Las Vegas Sands (LVS) Downgraded to “Hold” at HSBC

HSBC downgraded shares of Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report released on Wednesday, BenzingaRatingsTable reports. The analysts noted that the move was a valuation call.

A number of other brokerages have also commented on LVS. Bank of America reissued a neutral rating and set a $70.00 price target (up from $64.00) on shares of Las Vegas Sands in a research note on Wednesday. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on Las Vegas Sands from $57.00 to $69.00 and gave the company a hold rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Zacks Investment Research raised Las Vegas Sands from a hold rating to a buy rating and set a $74.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Las Vegas Sands from $64.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. Finally, Credit Suisse Group reissued a neutral rating and set a $58.00 price target on shares of Las Vegas Sands in a research note on Wednesday, March 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. The company has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $68.89.

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NYSE:LVS opened at $68.22 on Wednesday. Las Vegas Sands has a twelve month low of $47.39 and a twelve month high of $81.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $52.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.39 and a beta of 1.40. The company has a current ratio of 1.76, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.76.

Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 17th. The casino operator reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, beating the Zacks’ consensus estimate of $0.85 by $0.06. Las Vegas Sands had a return on equity of 33.30% and a net margin of 11.15%. The firm had revenue of $3.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.48 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.04 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Las Vegas Sands will post 3.23 EPS for the current fiscal year.

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 27th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 19th will be given a dividend of $0.77 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 18th. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.51%. Las Vegas Sands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 92.77%.

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of LVS. American International Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Las Vegas Sands during the fourth quarter worth about $359,921,000. Boston Partners raised its position in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 598.6% during the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 5,170,019 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $269,099,000 after acquiring an additional 4,429,990 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Las Vegas Sands during the fourth quarter worth about $229,684,000. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund raised its position in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 4,563.2% during the fourth quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 2,242,730 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $43,000 after acquiring an additional 2,194,636 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Point72 Asset Management L.P. raised its position in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 103.2% during the third quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 37,100 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $2,201,000 after acquiring an additional 1,187,100 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 36.81% of the company’s stock.

Las Vegas Sands Company Profile

Las Vegas Sands Corp., together with its subsidiaries, develops, owns, and operates integrated resorts in Asia and the United States. It owns and operates The Venetian Macao Resort Hotel, the Sands Cotai Central, The Parisian Macao, The Plaza Macao and Four Seasons Hotel Macao, Cotai Strip, and the Sands Macao in Macao, the People's Republic of China; and iconic Marina Bay Sands in Singapore.